French Toast - Ski Day Breakfast

It is a tradition with me that whenever I head to the mountains for a ski day, a breakfast of big proportions takes place bright and early before hand. World class ski resorts are very close to Calgary. Banff is about 1.5 hours away and Lake Louise is just under 2 hours. This means to get there at 9 am, you are up around 6 am. A day of shredding fresh powder on some of the best skiing in the world requires a good base in your belly so today before I headed out I went with some French toast, bacon and fresh fruit.

FRENCH TOAST:

Good Quality Unsliced Bread

2 eggs

1 cup Milk

1 tbsp Vanilla

Cinnamon to taste

Salt & Pepper to taste

Butter

_______________________________________________________________________ 
I have to 4 tips to ensure good French toast. 

1. Vanilla - Adding about 1 tablespoon of vanilla to your mix gives the French toast an awesome flavor that people will love and make them ask how you made it.
2. Cinnamon - Adding the cinnamon after the bread soaked in the mix evenly spreads it out over the bread. If you add it to the mix it clumps up.
3. Bread - The most important part of French toast. The thickness of the bread is what makes or breaks the deal. If you can, avoid using regular sliced bread. Try to plan to make French toast, and buy (or bake) a loaf of bread that you can slice yourself. Whole wheat or multigrain will give your food additional flavor for free. Slice the bread about ½ or 2/3^rd of a inch thick. It will be nice and crisp on the outside but still a little soft on the inside. Of course if you only got regular bread, use it! Texas toast is also not a bad choice.
4. Medium heat. Be patient. When I didn’t know any better, I used to cook everything on MAX. My food improved drastically when I turned the heat down. Cook this around 7. Be patient, and only flip it once.

_______________________________________________________________________
METHOD:
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla. It will be easier if your bowl is bigger than the slice of bread. Might sound like common sense, but I’ve done it before, so learn from my stupid mistakes. Don’t just dip the bread, let it soak for about 5 secs and then flip it and let soak the other side.

Transfer the bread to a plate. Start the seasoning process with the cinnamon. Hold your shaker really high – about 2 feet from the bread – this way it will cover the bread evenly. Put as much or as little  as you like. I go pretty heavy with it. After the cinnamon season with salt & pepper. Flip the bread and repeat this process.

Melt the butter in the pan and then fry the bread until brown on side. Flip it and cook until brown on the other side and serve immediately. When I was a kid, I used to eat French toast (and everything else) with Ketchup. Now a days I use a good quality maple syrup. Serve it bacon or sauage.